


The Lifeline

by Enchanting_Codswallop



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, First Love, First Time, Opposites Attract, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 14:58:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8018503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enchanting_Codswallop/pseuds/Enchanting_Codswallop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Orion Pax knew from the first time he saw the great gladiator Megatronus fight that he would never be able to forget about him. </p><p>The young data clerk didn't know that the warrior's tough exterior hid a lonely and rebellious spark, one that never knew what it needed until it was gone.</p><p>A story about love, life, death, and difficult choices on a Cybertron bursting at its political seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lifeline

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Silver_Centurion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Centurion/gifts).



> This was a belated birthday gift to a dear friend of mine.
> 
> *Rated Explicit for future content.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own _Transformers_ or associated characters, nor am I associated with the parent company or its affiliates.

_Crowds cheered, vocalizing his name at the highest wavelength their voice boxes could reach. Lubricant poured down their heated bodies as they watched, roaring with excitement and cyberdrenaline. Their hero, their warrior, stood holding the head of his most recent opponent._

_“Megatronus! Megatronus!” The shouts from the pits called in a cacophony so loud, the roar vibrated the plating of all who were in attendance._

_A wide, triumphant grin stood proud on Megatronus’ energon splattered face. He held his head high, yelling, roaring and crying out to his spectators. His chest heaved with turbulent vents as he attempted to cool his fans and his systems, looking straight towards what he knew to be the main camera._

_“Do you hear me Cybertron?!” he shouted, giving the severed head a mighty shake, “I will be a slave no longer! I will rise above your law, and when I do, I will crush it beneath my servos.” Pointing to the camera, he snarled, “Mark my words, the times will change!” With that, he dropped the head and walked towards the tunnels of the ring. Around him, spectators continued cheering for him, crying out their own passionate words of proclamation._

That image was the first he saw of Megatronus, the rebel gladiator in the pits of Kaon. He’d been warned about him, told his words and actions were treason—that they were blasphemous. But what he saw, what he read in those optics was anything but. His eyes sang with passion and a lust for the freedom he saw in the future so fervently, that the lonely soul could not help but watch. Orion Pax stared at the holo screen with wide optics, bringing a servo up to pause the image on Megatron’s smile. It was ferocious. Terrifying.

Triumphant.

Orion could think of so many adjectives, savage being his favorite, but one struck across his mind that he could not wipe from his processor.

Beautiful.

The lone data clerk had not seen such drive, never seen such ambition. He had never in all his years witnessed a mech so alive, so driven to change the future.  


Was it the determination? The way the fuchsia of spilled energon lit up his silver, scarred face? Orion could not tell. Beautiful still echoed in his mind.

There he stared, studying the image for quite some time. He was not a violent mech himself, but somehow, he felt his heart leap at watching this mech defeat everything the nobles threw in his path. His strength was tremendous. It was that day Orion typed Megatron’s name into the search box of his intergalactic database from his desk at Iacon. How many battles had he fought? Who was this Megatronus? Why did his elders warn him about him? Why could he not bear to turn his optics away from the mech whenever his visage was on the screen? 

-

This was not the first time Starscream had seen his gladiator fight. Yet still he watched, loyal to Megatronus’ battles. He sat in his flight school barrack, watching the tiny recording on a holo in the wall. He’d hacked it with a proxy to watch Megatronus, never wanting to miss a single recording. The leaders of the flight academy had banned the students from watching recordings that weren’t educational—but he’d break the rules for Megatronus. He’d been watching these battles since he was young, watching as Megatronus fought to stay alive and fight his way free of adversity. Every time the gladiator spoke, made a speech or roared in victory, the little jet would feel his spark pulse. He dreamed of being a strong, smart leader in Megatronus’ promised world. Starscream was a bright, talented young mech and was a student that had gotten into the school on that factor alone. His carrier and bearer had not been rich, they were not even a bit influential. In some ways, he felt like Megatronus. 

The jet was striving to become great and one day meet his hero. 

Starscream was not alone. His two best friends—Thundercracker and Skywarp—sat at his side and watched with him. They wanted what he promised—a Cybertron free of oppression. They were barely old enough to be on their own, children in the eyes of most elders, but that did not stop them from seeing the poverty and cruelty around them. 

In only nanoclicks after seeing the warrior walk into the shadowy tunnel, the holo ended. 

“Did you see how many people were cheering for him, Starscream?” the shyer bot, Thundercracker, asked. “It was amazing…”

“Indeed. I cannot wait for tomorrow’s video…That reminds me, Skywarp, have you studied for the exam tomorrow? We cannot afford to fall behind.” Starscream stretched, turning off his screen and lounging on his berth lazily.

Skywarp quickly nodded, and responded in a voice deep beyond his years. “Of course.”

“Good…Keep it up. Graduation is so close…And we should all ascend with honors, right?” Starscream tilted his head a bit, eyebrow plates raised as he watched his friend.

“Right,” the pair said, smirking and smiling at their unofficial leader. The pair had been bullied runts until Starscream saw opportunity in them and made them his friends. He’d never admit it, but he was glad he wasn’t alone anymore. 

“What are we?” the elder jet asked. His voice held a tone of secrecy and rebellion.

“Decepticons!” Skywarp and Thundercracker said, proudly saluting and grinning. 

Starscream grinned back and laughed. “Damn right we are!” It had only been a few cycles, but he’d heard somewhere that the followers of his gladiator were now calling themselves Decepticons. The trio had adopted the term in a sparkbeat.

-

“Megatronus.”

“What?” the warrior spat, sitting on a bench as guards stood by nervously. 

“Do I have to remind you again that the only reason I keep you alive is because you entertain the crowds?” A mech on a screen said to Megatronus. “Keep the patriotic fanfare to a minimum would you? If we’ve told you once, we’ve told you a hundred times.” The mech was a noble of Kaon and the proprietor of the gladiator rink. 

“Do I have to remind you, that the only reason I keep you alive is because I want to see the expression on your face as I tear your spark from your chamber?”

The face on the holo screen blinked once and then let out a laugh that was part apprehension and part condescension. “I’d like to see you try.”

“I will not try. I will succeed,” Megatron said with finality, slamming his fist into the power button. He stood, barking at the guards and knowing deep in his spark that no one had power over him. He stayed because he was in wait, not because he had to. It would be so easy to gather all of his fellow gladiators up and overrun those filthy, crooked nobles. This caste system was cruel, wrong, and in no way anything a sentient being should have to endure. He would end it—but not today. He needed more support from the public before a successful, planetary coup could be possible.

-

“What is it you are doing boy?” 

Orion quickly looked up, startled to see his mentor Alpha Trion, staring down at him. “I am simply observing recordings of the political deviants on our planet, master.” 

Alpha Trion rose an eyebrow plate. “Ah. Why?”

“I…” Orion looked at his master and struggled to give him an acceptable answer. “I’m…interested in Megatronus.” Orion could hide nothing from his mentor, and why should he? Alpha Trion was the kindest mech he’d ever met in his life. Surely, he could share this with him.

Alpha Trion looked startled. “Orion, please do not tell me you have been ensnared by his words. I do not feel his solution is the one that best suits our call of injustice. I have already warned you that he is not someone to be followed without repercussion.”

The two looked at each other for a moment before Orion nodded and looked down at his datapad. “Master…I hear you. But it seems like he wants nothing more than you have taught me. Freedom…Hope…You have shared with me what you think those mean, and what has to be done. He seems so true…Why does his solution not suit the needs of Cybertron?” Young Orion was ever curious, and could not understand why his master rejected Megatronus so outright. His best guess was that Megatronus was violent, and the dataclerks and residents of Iacon were a generally peaceful lot.

“I see a darkness in his actions. Listen to me Orion. Do you remember what I said about battle?”

“Yes, of course. You told me that a mech’s true character shines within the way he attacks in battle…”

“Yes, and that you can read a mech’s soul by watching his movements. I have seen Megatron’s battles, I know the way he fights. I have also heard his words of freedom and rebellion against the government. But I tell you, Orion, I do not see anything good in him. He fights with no mercy, with no respect for life. He does not attack to simply win and survive, he slaughters because he enjoys it. A mech like that is not fit to lead anything. A dark spark can only produce more darkness and more tyranny.”

Orion stared at his master, dumbfounded. He was a smart mech, and took everything Alpha Trion said to spark. Still, he could not understand. He did not look at the actions of Megatronus in the ring as an identifier, only the emotion in his optics. He saw the pride, the ambition, and everything else that made the gladiator who he was through those vicious red eyes. Megatronus did seem a cruel character, but what spark is not hardened when it is forced kill to survive everyday?

“I understand, my master…” Orion said, looking down at his peds. He would heed his master’s advice, but knew that his appetite for Megatronus’ freedom laden words would soon become insatiable. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy late birthday, sweetie.
> 
> I hope you stay along for the ride.


End file.
